Tweetbot – A quick look

IF you’re at all a fan of Twitter and you’re an iPhone/iPod Touch user, then you need to get comfortable and take in the following quick look at the newest kid on the block as far as Twitter applications go – Tweetbot.

Tweetbot was released a couple of weeks ago by “Tapbots”, the makers of four other great iPhone titles including the awesome “Calcbot”.

So why is it so good and why have I ditched every other Twitter client for the iPhone that I’ve ever tried for this? Well the answer is simple. Attention to detail. Both significant and small details, from the stunning interface to the subtle, yet intelligent sound effects and animations, are bang on.

Every detail, from multiple account handling to incredibly intuitive navigation and a wealth of customisation and add-on options, combine to create a complete, unbeatable Twitter experience that I KNOW you’ll love once you try it.

For a paltry AUD$2.49 and a few simple account set-up steps (see below), you too can be up and running with Tweetbot and start experiencing Twitter on your iPhone the way it was always meant to be.

Getting Started

Dead simple. Once you have the application installed on your iPhone or iPod Touch, crank it open and you’ll be presented with a screen that will prompt you to add your Twitter account(s). Simply login as instructed and you’ll be off and running.

After a quick loading screen (which looks beautiful in itself) you’ll be taken straight to your current timeline. To update/refresh your timeline at any stage, simply scroll to the top of your timeline to the most recent tweet, put your finger anywhere on the timeline and pull downwards and you’ll see a “loading” bar appear.

Reading the Timeline

The tweets in your timeline are subtly, yet cleverly colour coded to indicate different kinds of tweets. Light grey for your ordinary tweets by people you follow, dark grey for your tweets, and light blue for tweets you have been mentioned in.

One of the cool features of Tweetbot is the ability to view conversation threads by sliding with your finger, any tweet to the right (see below left). This will momentarily bring up a loading graphic while the conversation is compiled and eventually presented (see below right).

Profiles

By clicking on user icons on the timeline, you will be taken through to user profiles where you can view their tweet archive, followers, who they are following and more. By tapping the cog icon you can easily follow/unfollow the user who’s profile you are viewing, and add them to lists. Very intuitive.

Mentions & DMs

At the bottom of the timeline, next to the speech bubble icon, you’ll notice icons for mentions (@) and messages (DMs). If, upon any timeline refresh, any of these icons are highlighted by a thin blue bar at the bottom of the screen under the respective icon, you’ll know that you have received a new mention and/or message – a simple and beautiful detail that you’ll come to love.

Search & Settings

Searches are simple and you have the option to save specific searches for easy access later. On the search page, you’ll also be able to peruse a list of trending topics.

You can access the application settings screen by clicking on the double head icon on the top left of the timeline screen. Doing this will take you to your account screen where you’ll find a “Settings” button at the bottom of screen (see the first screen grab after the heading “Getting Started” above).

Once in the application settings panel, you can modify any of the options shown above right. By clicking the account name button under the subheading “Account Settings” you will get access to a number of settings specific to each of your Twitter accounts. Things like URL shortening, image, video and read later services may be selected here.

The Negatives

If I have to level any kind of criticism at this masterful Twitter application, it’s that there is a complete lack of integration with other social networks like Facebook, LinkedIn etc.

Other applications like the very handy “Hootsuite” allow you to do this in a seamless manner, which means you can update your status across a number of networks via your Tweets.

Further, there’s no functionality for scheduling tweets. For me this is kind of important as I often schedule tweets to ensure maximum impact in North America which is obviously in a completely different timezone to Australia.

That being said, Tweetbot is so perfect in every other way that I’m happy to designate it as my primary Twitter app for now, and hope that perhaps in future updates, these other features may be introduced.

If only the rest of the world could intelligently & democratically vote in leaders the likes of a Trudeau 🇨🇦 or Ardern 🇳🇿...
PS. Another fantastic segment from you @hamishNews. Congrats mate! 👍🏼
PPS. All the best for your pending arrival @jacindaardern! 🍼 twitter.com/hamishnews/sta…